Cheree

Guest Post By Suz Graf O’Donnell, President and Lead Coach, Thrivatize LLC

Women are having children later in their careers and therefore have more responsibility on their plates when they start a family. For those that want to maintain a fruitful career, they need to do a little extra work to make sure everyone at work (including their boss, employees, customers, and peers) know they are coming back as strong as ever.

While every good manager puts on a happy face and genuinely congratulates the woman on her big news, they also secretly struggle with concerns about whether she will return after having the baby, if she’ll want to go part time, how this will impact team performance, and whether they need to begin recruiting now to backfill part or all of her work. These are real concerns that affect team engagement, effectiveness, and morale.

To help both the women planning families and the managers of these women cope better with these situations, check out these resources:

Managers, Human Resources, and Diversity Officers: Even in the most supportive environments, unconscious bias can make a pregnant woman feel like her career trajectory is at risk. The more you can do to prevent these feelings, the more likely she is to come back feeling that you support her ongoing career development and success. Check out Suz Graf O’Donnell, President and Lead Coach of Thrivatize LLC’s whitepaper The Overlooked Opportunity To Retain More Women In Leadership. This whitepaper includes an engaging story of what can go wrong when well-meaning managers aren’t certain about the career desires of their employees who are planning a family. It also highlights team performance risks and costs savings that you can address by properly preparing your female leaders for this big change in their lives. You can find additional resources or contact information regarding this hot topic at PowerfulWomenPlanningFamilies.com.

Here’s you dilemma. Your co-worker is expecting and now you’re expected to write a nice note along with your baby shower gift. You know it’s not appropriate to write on the card, “You look like you’ve gained 70 lbs so we hope you’re really having a baby!” so what do you write instead? Here’s a handy-dandy list of appropriate well wishes for someone about to go on maternity leave. These could also work for a father celebrating a new arrival or congratulations to new adoptive parents. Use these for inspiration and “make it your own” to be sure it sounds like something you would say.

Blessings to you and your family during this precious time. Can’t wait to meet the sweet new addition.

We will miss you while you’re home with your beautiful bundle of joy. We’ll be sure to not leave a bundle of work for you when you return!

God bless all of you….enjoy this sacred time! Can’t wait to see pictures of the newest family member!

Our thoughts will be with you for a happy and healthy baby. Take your time to rest and enjoy your little one.

We will surely miss you while you’re home with baby. When you come back to work, we’ll be sure not to ask you to change any diapers!

In general it’s absolutely appropriate to wish the mom-to-be a healthy delivery and baby. If you’re wishing them well there aren’t too many things you can say that are wrong.

However there are two areas you’ll want to steer clear of…You will want to avoid joking that you think her/his time off is going to be easy. I’ve heard some co-workers say, “I’d sure like six weeks of time away from work!” New parents are signing up for sleepless nights, endless diaper changes and a whole lot of stress – many times at reduced or no pay! Even if you’re not cut out to be a parent hopefully you can appreciate and respect their decision to bring a life into the world.

You will also want to avoid advice or sensitive questions about how they will give birth or parent the child. Childbirth and parenting are very personal subjects that are usually best avoided in the workplace. The new parent will initiate with you if they are seeking advice. Otherwise they usually just want you to tell them their baby is going to be the cutest in the world.

Hopefully these tips will help you send off the new mom to a wonderfully rewarding maternity leave. New parents will appreciate your well wishes and encouragement during this exciting time in their lives.

P.S. Another great gift…. tell them about this blog (but not that you found your heartfelt sentiment here!)

It’s no secret that maternity leave benefits in the US are lacking. You know it’s bad when our own President fronts us out. To quote him directly, “the United States is the only developed country in the world without paid maternity leave.” But, we can’t let that get us down because bringing a child into this world is one of, it not THE most rewarding and important thing we can do to in our lifetimes.

The good news is that even when you think the deck is stacked against you and you’re concerned that you won’t get a fair shake when you ask for maternity leave, there are experts out there who have successfully helped women to not only get a fair maternity leave but also a great maternity leave. Today I would like to introduce you to an expert in this area, Pat Katepoo.

Pat has been a work options advisor since 1993 and her website Work Options has been online since 1997. Thousands of busy professionals have found answers and relief through her services. Pat says, “Women aren’t socialized to negotiate and so they are less inclined than men to ask for what they need or want. And research shows that often women fail to see their options or even think to ask for them. So maybe you don’t know what you don’t know.” Pat can help you see your options and ask for them.

Please take a few moments right now to visit Pat at WorkOptions by clicking any of the links in this post. I really think she’s the best in this subject area and definitely the most experienced. I always keep a link to her site on the side of my blog posts because I think her services are so valuable to working women. I’m an affiliate for Pat’s tools and resources so each purchase you make drops a few coins in the bucket to fund The Maternity Leave Coach, so “thank you” in advance.

It is important for expectant mothers to review federal and state laws related to maternity leave as well as work/life benefits offered by their employer. Read on to learn more about the laws that protect pregnant women in the workplace.

Federal and State Laws

The first step in planning your maternity leave is to understand your rights and benefits. You’ll need to pull out your employee handbook to see whether your employer gives you any paid leave for childbirth. But at a minimum, expectant mothers are protected by several federal laws in the U.S.

It’s illegal to discriminate against pregnant women, whether in hiring or an existing employment situation. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. In the U.S., federal and state laws attempt to provide basic protections to pregnant women and their babies.

Here’s a rundown of two important laws that apply to leave taken after having a baby or adopting a child: